You Promised Remember?
by SyberiaWinx
Summary: In that village, Mio had broken her promise many times. After they escaped, she made a new promise. But can she really keep it? And what lengths will Mayu go to in order to see that she does? Set after the "Promise" ending.
1. Memory of a Promise

**You Promised…Remember?**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fatal Frame II.

**Chapter One**

**Memory of a Promise**

_We survived. I'm not sure how, but…we survived. Mio kept her promise and came for me, but it hadn't really registered at first. Kneeling there, on the cold, rough stone ground, I was still in a daze._

_My twin sister and I…we had gone to visit that place once more-the place where we used to play as children and where we had first promised to always be together. It's still a little fuzzy, but I remember seeing that butterfly. I don't know why, but I had felt as though I _had_ to follow it. Mio had, of course, come running after me, and we had wound up trapped in a village filled with ghosts._

_I have trouble remembering a lot of what happened while we were there, except that we kept getting separated. The village…it had some sort of ritual…twins sisters were sacrificed-the elder forced to kill the younger and make them one being again. I…wanted to do the ritual…We were so close to escaping, but I chose to leave my darling sister and head to where the ritual had to be performed. Everything after that is completely blank. It wasn't until Mio caught me just as I was about to jump into the Abyss that I came to._

_After she saved me, Mio told me that the ghost of a girl whose ritual had failed had possessed me. It was that girl's desire to correctly perform the ritual with her own sister that had made me go to the Abyss._

_I had watched the freed girl's spirit flutter from the Abyss in the form of a crimson butterfly-now one with her twin forever,-followed by hundreds-maybe even thousands-more. Following them, we had finally left the village. Mio confessed how guilty she felt about my accident all those years ago. Of course, I had always known, and it was that guilt I had used to make sure she was always by my side. But she would never know _my_ secret-that I had fallen on purpose._

_But during that whole incident, I had realized that guilt would not be enough forever. I think I myself had wanted to go through that ritual-to be one with Mio so she could never go anywhere without me ever again. So that we truly could be "together forever"._

_The ritual had not been performed by us, but it had turned out okay in the end. As we watched the sun rise, Mio made a new promise to me. Sitting here in our room, watching her sweet sleeping face, I realize I will do _anything_ to make sure she keeps her promise this time…_

…anything.


	2. Broken

**You Promised…Remember?**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fatal Frame II.

**Chapter Two**

**Broken**

_It has been three years since we left that horrible village. Mio was afraid to leave my side, as if she were worried I would go away again. Don't worry, my sister-I'll be here as long as you keep your promise to me. _

-

Mayu Amakura watched her sister throughout the entire reception. She looked so beautiful…Smiling and dressed in white lace and silk-like an angel. Her dress swayed with her as she danced in the arms of a handsome young man.

The whole thing had happened so suddenly. Mio had announced she was going to the school dance with someone and had ignored her sister that whole night. Mayu had forgiven her just that one time. She had heard nothing of the man her sister had gone with until after their graduation…when she announced she was getting married.

Mio had been so preoccupied with the wedding plans, she had not even noticed her sister's state of despair. Once Mio got married, she knew things would change forever between them, even though Mio had tried to assure her otherwise. Even if they were all living together under the same roof, Mio would have less and less time for her once she had taken a husband.

_Mio…Once you get married, will you forget about me? Will your new husband replace me in you life? Will you love him more than me? That is my greatest fear. I don't want to be apart from you…But, even more, I don't want to be number two in your life…_

It had been a small wedding-just a few friends and family. Mayu had never felt more invisible, even though she was the Maid of Honor. Everyone fawned over her sister-how pretty she was and how lucky she was to have found true love so early in life. And they all loved her husband, Shiro Kunakida. He was wealthy, kind, and handsome, and Mio was crazy about him.

Everyone was crazy about him…except Mayu. Her sad eyes hid her blazing anger as she saw that man dancing and laughing with _her_ sister. She wanted to go over there and scream at him for trying to steal her sister away, but her frailty and fear of making Mio upset with her held her back.

As she walked her sister and new brother-in-law to the limo they would leave in for their honeymoon, she held in her feelings of sorrow and hatred and smiled at her sister. "Hurry back." she said, holding tightly to her sister's hand. "And…" She looked away. "Don't forget about me…"

Mio smiled softly. "Of course I won't forget about you. You are the most important person in my life."

This made Mayu smile. She squeezed her sister's hand even harder. "Then, you won't break your promise, right?"

Mio cried out and pulled her hand away. "You're a lot stronger than you look, sis. See you in a couple of weeks!" She ducked into the car with her husband and it drove off, leaving Mayu staring after it in schock.

"Mio..." She looked down at her hands for a moment, then clasped them together tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. But as she looked up, her eyes became filled with a fury that would strike fear into the bravest of men.

_You promised you wouldn't let go._


	3. Changes

**You Promised…Remember?**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fatal Frame II.

**Chapter Three**

**Changes**

_It has been ten years since Mio's wedding to Shiro. When they first came back after the honeymoon, I was happy to see her again. She had begged her new _husband_ to stay here so she could be close to me, even though he made more than enough for them to live very well on their own. With Mama having recently passed on and Uncle Kei having long since left, Mio worried about me being all alone. Besides, this was _our _home-where me and Mio had spent nearly all of our lives._

_Many things had changed here since the wedding. Mio had become interested in photography after the incident in the Lost Village and was hired by a popular occult magazine soon after she graduated college. I had become a kindergarten teacher myself. Mio and Shiro have also had five children-two of them twins like us. Mio is paying attention to a lot of other people these days, sometimes even more than she pays me. I'm a little jealous, but it's okay...I can use that promise to keep Mio with me forever…_

…_or so I had thought._

-

"Mio, I'm home!" I called, setting my keys on the kitchen table-just as I had every day. But today felt different…Normally, Mio came to greet me or, if she couldn't, she would shout out her location so I could go to her. And the house was so quiet today…It was usually filled with the noises of those kids of hers.

The twins were the eldest, at nine years of age. Kasumi was the first born and the most tolerable of them all. Like me, she was quiet and loved her sister very much. And due to her independence, she rarely needed Mio's attention. But her twin, Natsumi, I despised the most. She was loud and selfish, and seemed to have no attachment to her sister at all. Plus, she _demanded_ Mio's attention and seemed to view me as inferior to herself…Such a brat. They did not even dress similar, though both had long black hair that they wore down-Kasumi wearing a headband in hers.

Next in line was eight-year-old Mariko. An athletic tomboy who wore her short black hair up in a ponytail, she was as energetic and outgoing as my dear sister. Even so, her constant sports games causes Mio to be away from home often…

Hikaru was only six with long, often messy hair and was always either crying or screaming about something. She was the loudest and most annoying out of all the kids, but Mio always says she is like that because she is so young. _We _were never like that at her age…

Sakuya was the youngest-only four. She was very small for her age and always getting hurt. I hated even her for taking Mio away from me all time. After her birth, Mio had even less time to spend with me…

"Mio?" I went into the kitchen and spotted a note on the counter. Recognizing my sister's handwriting on it, I picked the letter up and sat down at the table to read it.

_My Dearest Sister,_

_Please forgive me…I've done something terrible to you! I hate to tell you this in a letter, but I did not have the courage to tell you this to your face. Ever since Sakuya's birth, things have just been too cramped with you. Shiro has secretly been building a new, bigger house for all of us to live in, and now it is finally ready. Our new house is just down the street, so you can come and visit us whenever you want. Please don't be mad at me! After all, it's not the end of the world, right?_

_Your sister, Mio_

Mayu stood up in shock, unable to keep reading the letter in her mind. After all they had been through…even though they had promised…Mio was leaving her again?! Her anger caused her to crush the note into a ball in her fist.

"You are wrong, _dearest sister_-it _is _the end of the world…

…for _you_."


	4. Something Lost

**You Promised…Remember?**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fatal Frame II.

**Chapter Four**

**Something Lost**

_Mio…you left me. After all that we have been through-after you _promised,_-you abandoned me. And you did not even have the courage to tell me to my face-you ran away like a coward! I find it hard to even look at you now, but I really have no choice, do I? You are still my sister, and I cannot help but love you. But things can't go on like this. Something has to change…_

-

I did not want to see Mio. It had been a week since she had moved out and left me all alone, but I had not even been able to find the strength or will to get out of bed in the morning. I had not been to work at all since then, either. Mio no doubt had to have noticed this by now-her daughter, Hikaru, was in my class. She picked her up after school everyday, which was partly why I had not felt like going. Plus, being surrounded by little children would only serve to remind me of one of the reasons Mio had gone away from me.

A sigh escaped my lips, as my boots crunched the multi-colored leaves under them. It was the end of November and very cold out. I shivered, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my brown wool coat. Despite not wanting to see my sister, I hated to think of her worried about me, so I was on my way to her house to show her I was alright. For some reason, I had decided to just go around the back, instead of knocking on the front door.

Mio's new house had a small wooden deck and one of those sliding glass doors in the back. I could see her through the door, back to me, with her husband. They were playing happily with Hikaru and Sakuya, laughing, without a care in the world.

Despite the cold, my body suddenly flooded with heat. I could feel my long-hidden rage welling up inside, threatening to break free. At the same time, I felt something else leaving me-my restraint was waning. My whole body was shaking, fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. Memories of all Mio's broken promises suddenly rampaged my mind.

_We were just little kids, running through the forest. I could see Mio just ahead of me on the narrow dirt path. The forest scared me…I did not want to be left alone…I called out to her, begging her not to leave me. She just taunted me, telling me to hurry up, or she would leave me behind. I had been so upset with her, that I let my foot slip and fell down the mountain. It had hurt, but the look of remorse on her face when I came to had been priceless. _

_The door swung shut, trapping me in the cell room. Through the small window, I begged Mio not to leave me, but she insisted she had to get the key and would be right back. My cries meant nothing to her. The minute she had left, I had blacked out again and wound up somewhere else._

_We were running up the stairs that led to the shrine-our only hope of escaping this village and its ritual. The villagers were soon on our trail, carrying their torches and scythes. With my aching leg, I was unable to keep up with her and_ was _quickly captured. I_ _called out to Mio, but she was too slow to rescue me._

_Mio was getting married. The day we escaped the village, she had promised to never let me go again. And yet, she did. She let me go and ran off into the arms of some man, leaving me out in the cold._

_I came home to an empty house. There was a note for me, from Mio. She had grown tired of living with me and had moved out while I was at work. _

Something hit my ankle, bringing me out of my trance. Looking down, I saw a black-and-white checkered ball. It was a filthy, disgusting thing, not even fit for usage. What kind of parent would make their child play with such a ratty old thing?

"Aunt Mayu?"

It was then I noticed that I was not alone. Eight-year-old Mariko was standing there, staring at me. Her eyes were bright and lively, just like her mother's. The wind had messed up her hair, which was down today, and she was breathing heavily, no doubt from running around in the freezing cold, kicking a ratty soccer ball.

I gave her a smile. "Hello, Mariko. Out practicing, I see?"

She nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

"I noticed your ball is a bit…rundown. Why don't you ask your parents for a new one?"

I watched her pout. "They said they might get me one for Christmas, even though I can't practice too good with this one, and that is a long time away."

"Well, I happen to have a soccer ball I could give you. It was mine when I was younger, but I never got a chance to use it because I hurt my leg soon after that."

Mariko's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

"Come on, let's go get it." I put my arm around her, leading her back towards my house, my anger forgotten.

-

"Mayu?!" choked out Mio's tearful voice over the phone, when I picked it up.

"Mio? What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"It's Mariko-she's missing! I've looked all over, but I just can't find her! Have you seen her?"

"No." I tried my best to remain calm, for her sake. "She probably just wandered off-you know how kids are. Not a day goes by that I don't think one of the kids in my class has gone missing, only to notice them right there in front of me."

"You think so?"

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "She'll turn up, you'll see. Why don't you go check the woods out back of your house? I'll stay here, in case she should turn up."

"O-okay." Mio sounded slightly reassured. "Thanks, sis, and…I'm sorry." She hung up.

I set the phone down in its cradle. Poor Mio. Worrying about someone you love is the worst kind of pain-no one knew that better than me.

_How does it feel, Mio? How does it feel to long for someone you adore-to wonder if they will ever come back?_

My memories overwhelmed me again, all of a sudden. Mio had fallen asleep on the couch after an active day playing outdoors. She looked so angelic and helpless, traits which she never possessed while awake. I hadn't been able to resist climbing up on top of her, straddling her. My hands traced her delicate features, eventually clasping around her delicate neck. I found my grip tightening, choking the life out of her. My sister awakened at once and tried to push me off of her, but for once, I was the strong one. She cried helplessly, before surrendering to unconsciousness. I finally realized that there was no pulse under my hands-my sister was dead.

I walked into the living room, where Mariko lay unconscious on the couch. To the casual observer, it was an innocent enough scene-a child fast asleep on the sofa of her only aunt. But to someone who bothered to look closely enough, they would notice the strange red mark on her neck and note that she looked paler than normal.

Sitting down gently beside her, I pressed my fingers to her wrist, then let out a sigh or relief. "Thank goodness…"

"…for a minute there, I thought it was _Mio_ I had killed."


	5. Sisters

You Promised…Remember

**You Promised…Remember?**

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fatal Frame II.

**Chapter Five**

**Sisters**

_Poor sister…You've been in such a fragile state since Mariko's disappearance. I do my best to assure you when you call, even though I know you'll never see her alive again. That's what sisters do, after all. You'd probably think me horrible if you knew what I had done, but it was an accident. It was just like back in the village, when I had been possessed by that ghost. I was wrapped in a crimson fog, barely aware of anything. Mariko was you, who should have killed me that day, so that we could be together all the time, never having to part. If you had just done that, none of this would be happening. It's all your own fault. Besides, it's not like you've never lied to me._

_If only you'd kept your promise…_

"Mayu?"

It was Mio again. Her voice was stressed, and it was clear she had just finished crying yet again.

"What is it, sister? Has Mariko been found yet?"

"No." She sobbed. "I don't know where else to look. We've already searched the whole house and called all her friends, but no one has seen her. She was playing outside the day she disappeared-just out back,-so where could she have gone?! Do you think someone kidnapped her?!" The panic was rising in her frail voice. Oh, how pathetic you sound, my sister. Aren't you glad that you have me?

It had been only been a day since I had strangled the child, mistaking her for her mother-my sister-in a hazy moment. I had intended to dispose of the body where no one would ever find it, but had decided not to at the last minute. Mio would need closure. I didn't want her to spend all her time focusing on finding her missing daughter or wondering if she was still alive somewhere. No, I wanted her to come to terms with losing someone that she loved and come to me when she needed comfort. I could imagine her crying on my shoulder at the funeral, just like she had when Mother had died, and became that much more eager to make sure she discovered the body soon.

I pretended to think for a moment. "Have you tried the soccer field near the school?" It was still the weekend, so I doubted anyone had thought to look there. I remembered she had once run away and gone there when she was younger and didn't know any better. They had found her happily kicking a ball around the empty field, unaware of the worry she'd caused or the danger she'd put herself in.

"No…She does love it there, but would she really go and stay overnight?" Mio did not sound convinced, much to my irritation.

Hiding those feelings, I tried to convince her. "Kids can be strange like that. If she was mad at you for something and decided to make you feel guilty, then she probably would. Have the two of you fought at all lately."

Mio broken down crying. "She wanted a new soccer ball, but Shiro thought it would be best not to give her one until Christmas. He didn't want to spoil her. I wanted to buy her one, because she could barely even practice with that old one, and soccer is so important to her, but he's my husband, so…That must be it!"

I smirked. This was getting better and better. Not only had she managed to make her sister feel guilty-a feeling that would only increase once she found Mariko at the soccer field,-but I had managed to plant the seeds of hatred against Shiro. It was only a matter of time before she blamed him for not letting her have something as simple as a soccer ball. With any luck, that would spark a fight that would tear them apart forever, allowing her to have her sister back again.

"Don't blame yourself, sister. No one wants that." I lied, knowing well that I did indeed what her to blame herself-herself and that wretched husband of hers. "Just head over to the school, and see if you can find any trace of Mariko, then call me and let me know, okay?"

"Okay." She sniffled. "Oh, Mayu, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Well, Shiro's mother was watching the twins this weekend, and she's supposed to be dropping them back off today, right around now. He's at work, and I want to get to the soccer field, so can you come over here and wait for them? It would only be for a few minutes-they're going with their friend Michiko to the mountains,-and she's supposed to stop by with her mother to pick them up." Mio was rambling now, a cute little thing she did whenever she was nervous. It made me smile. "I normally wouldn't let them miss school, but they've been so upset about Mariko, I thought it would be nice for them to go and get their minds off it, so-"

"Mio," I interrupted, knowing she would go on for hours if I didn't. "I'll be right over." Hanging up, I started to chuckle, my lips slowly curling into a menacing grin. Before I knew it, I was laughing like that woman from All Gods Village-the one who had slaughtered all those people after her sister had abandoned her. Maybe we were more alike than poor little Mio had ever imagined.

Standing alone in Mio's spacious house, I was frightened when the eerie silence was suddenly shattered by the sound of the phone in the kitchen ringing. Answering it, the speaker identified herself as the mother of Michiko, the girl the twins were going away with. She seemed to be in a rush, and before I could say a word to her, she informed me that she didn't have the time to stop by the house and would just pick the girls up from the school on the way-thinking they were there for some kind of practice,-then hung up on me.

I frowned, wondering what I was supposed to do now. The girls were already on their way here, and I certainly didn't feel like watching them until their mother came home. I could hear them bounding through the front door already and grimaced.

"Aunt Mayu!" I heard a cheerful voice exclaim behind me. Forcing a smile onto my face, I embraced Kasumi-the older of the twins.

Right behind her was the younger, Natsumi, who regarded me with a sneer. "What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded to know. "Didn't we move to get away from you?"

Is it any wonder I hated that brat?

As much as I hated to admit it, she reminded me of Mio a long time ago, before my accident. We still loved eachother back then, but Mio was the more outgoing and adventurous one, while I was more reserved and quiet. She was always getting upset with me, because I insisted on following her everywhere, but couldn't keep up. That meant she either had to slow down or run ahead, which would cause me to tell our parents, getting her in trouble. It was a no-win situation for her.

But I continued to love her, even when she despised me. Taken over by my memories, I started making a lunch for the girls, not really focusing on the task at all.

"You shouldn't say things like that!" I could hear my younger self saying in my head. I was probably upset with Mio for saying she wished she didn't have a sister-something she frequently said back then.

"It's the truth! You're such a pest!" Why was young Mio so cruel?

My fingers tightened around the handle of the knife I was using to chop vegetables for the sandwiches I was making, as I continued listening to the argument in my head.

"I am not!" How hurt I sound…

"You are! I wish I didn't even have a sister!"

Before I could stop myself, I was swinging the knife, slashing Mio's younger self on the side of her abdomen. She collapsed to the ground, her blood spilling onto the white tiles of the floor, seeping into the cracks. I could hear my own past self screaming in horror. She was such a brat, but I hated watching my sister in pain…

Poor Mio was dying, but it was taking too long. She was desperately crawling along the floor, trying to get away. That just wouldn't do at all. I didn't enjoy watching her suffer. I raised the knife and moved towards her, intent on finishing her off.

"No!" My younger self jumped between us, her arms out at her sides. How brave and selfless I was; willing to die for the sister who had just been insulting me moments ago. "Why are you doing this?!" She was crying.

Mio was always causing me to cry, wasn't she? Even her dying hurt me. I couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

With agility I didn't even know I possessed, I plunged the knife into the stomach of my past self and watched her crumple to the ground beside her sister, their blood joining together on the floor in a way they had never been able to do in life.

Turning away from the sordid scene, I cleaned the knife at the sink, then finished making the sandwiches. When I finished, I set them onto the table and went to find Natsumi and Kasumi, nearly tripping and killing myself on the way out of the kitchen.

Looking down to see what was responsible, I found Natsumi and Kasumi cuddled cutely together, in a pool of their own blood. Though Kasumi had died almost instantly from the stab wound in her abdomen, her sister was still alive. She was crying as she slowly bled to death, clinging helplessly to the corpse of her twin.

Smiling at the sweet scene, I retrieved the knife and knelt down beside the younger of the twins, careful not to get any blood on my new skirt. She looked up and me with fear and opened her mouth to try and say something, but never got the chance. Mio would always be forgiven for her treatment of me, but this girl was not my Mio. She didn't deserve to be forgiven.

Taking advantage of her open mouth, I grabbed her tongue and sliced it off. I watched her panic for a few seconds, then sent her to be with her sister forever-as it should be,-plunging the knife into her heart.

I looked down at what I had done with a blank gaze, then smiled lightly and shrugged.

"Oh, well. They're supposed to be in the mountains anyway, so it's not like Mio will miss them."


End file.
